Merging + NADAC @ the Pacific NW (this week) & SoundStage review

[YashN]

I suspect any up-sampling is not going to reach top level PCM performance. and whether we like it or not, most music is native PCM.

I believe that the real benchmark DSD-wise is to compare by up-converting to Quad-DSD or above on a native DSD or native chip-less DSD DAC using HQ Player (forget about JRiver).

 

[zztop7]

The Future

Mike,
"As for HQPlayer being superior to JRiver, there is no contest. It's a night and day difference. HQPlayer is much, much better." If this is so, and I have no doubt....having read the same thing many other places....then I really think you should get HQplayer and see how good Quad speed upsampling can sound into your Lampy......still might not reach Trinity level....but you never know. Also, some say 8XDSD is even better.....you will need powerful computer to do it and I don't know if the Lampy can take 8XDSD. I think the Gustard can via i2S.......yes, stay tuned for the Gustard show! What is really cool is that all software sounds different. Do we really think that HQplayer will be the last and best upsampling software?......even the guy that wrote it is probably working on a better version.....the beat goes on.

Excellent comments.
We must remember: "Everything changes and nothing stands still." Heraclitus

zz.

 

[EuroDriver]

I believe that the real benchmark DSD-wise is to compare by up-converting to Quad-DSD or above on a native DSD or native chip-less DSD DAC using HQ Player (forget about JRiver).

+ 1

 

[bmoura]

This is the setting I'm using now on HQPlayer to the NADAC. Maybe it'll make things clearer ML:

What kind of computing power is needed for the Roon + HQ Player upsampling to DSD 256 combination with the NADAC?
Are we talking about an i7 based Windows or Windows Server setup?

 

[wisnon]

Use HQP alone for best SQ. Interface may suck, but SQ is better than interfacing with Roon.

Yes, you need a quality i7 server!

 

[wisnon]

Not too sure about that. Most ADCs are delta-sigma. These ADCs downsample to PCM for further editings. That's why most of DSD supporters criticise PCM as the recordings are not native PCM.

This is true...native PCM you can by and large only get from the PM2 recodings nowadays.

It is far easier to find true native DSD than native PCM.

 

[Kingsrule]

What kind of computing power is needed for the Roon + HQ Player upsampling to DSD 256 combination with the NADAC?
Are we talking about an i7 based Windows or Windows Server setup?

I use i7-6700 with 16G ram, 1TB SSD. All I run on computer is roon and HQPlayer. Jussi doesn't seem to say roon or no roon makes a difference on sound. I never tried HQPlayer alone. Filters make a huge difference. I'm still sorting thru them. I wish HQPlayer let you change filters on the fly but alas no......

 

[amirm]

What kind of computing power is needed for the Roon + HQ Player upsampling to DSD 256 combination with the NADAC?
Are we talking about an i7 based Windows or Windows Server setup?

Roon itself uses about 5% of the CPU on an i5 machine. If you minimize it so that it is not showing the progress bar, it practically goes to zero. Resampling DSD to PCM maxes out the machine, infrequently causing a pause.

 

[bmoura]

Roon itself uses about 5% of the CPU on an i5 machine. If you minimize it so that it is not showing the progress bar, it practically goes to zero. Resampling DSD to PCM maxes out the machine, infrequently causing a pause.

I haven't heard computer power issues about Roon alone. But HQ Player does seem to be very computer power intensive.

 

[amirm]

I haven't heard computer power issues about Roon alone. But HQ Player does seem to be very computer power intensive.

It is indeed. I was just trying to eliminate one variable from the equation .

 

[EuroDriver]

Use HQP alone for best SQ. Interface may suck, but SQ is better than interfacing with Roon.

Yes, you need a quality i7 server!

Roon to HQ Player is still in Beta, and sound quality improvements are being achieved weekly

We are at a level, where nobody would be disappointed with the sound quality of Roon to HQP, but of course we are not stopping in our efforts to close the SQ gap

 

[MadFloyd]

Use HQP alone for best SQ. Interface may suck, but SQ is better than interfacing with Roon.

Yes, you need a quality i7 server!

I haven't noticed a difference between HQP alone vs with Roon in terms of sound quality.

 

[YashN]

Use HQP alone for best SQ. Interface may suck, but SQ is better than interfacing with Roon.

Disclaimer: I am not equipped yet to try and compare all these (I especially won't fork out for Roon, which I can code a smaller version of myself and I still need a much more powerful computer for this exact configuration), but if your system is comprised of a client-server configuration, with HQ Player and Roon on the main computer and the networkaudiodaemon by Miska on a smaller network-attached device which is itself connected to your DAC, you may find less or no difference between running Roon + HQP and just HQ P.

A direct connection with a not-too-well isolated DAC (most of them) is a different story though.

For HPQ, you really need a very powerful computer server-side. On the client, you can use a much simpler device: SBC/Beaglebone or even simpler if you can.

Now that Miska has implemented GPU/CUDA offloading for processing, you can envision building a system with one, two or more GPU cards as well (check the requirements with Miska, but I think it's NVIDIA only).

 

[bmoura]

It is indeed. I was just trying to eliminate one variable from the equation .

Good point.

 

[Kingsrule]

I use fiber to connect my roon/HQPlayer computer and my NADAC to my network....so I'm completely isolated
Also Jussi's latest update didn't work for me..noise over the audio with exact same settings...reverted back to 2/5 version(13.0?)

 

[EuroDriver]

I haven't noticed a difference between HQP alone vs with Roon in terms of sound quality.

What is your connection method between the CappV3 Zuma and the NADAC ?

Am I correct in assuming that your are converting PCM to DSD 256 in HQ Player ?

 

[bmoura]

What is your connection method between the CappV3 Zuma and the NADAC ?

The Zuma doesn't appear to have an Ethernet option, just USB and Firewire.
Suppose you could use a USB to Ethernet adapter to connect it to the NADAC.

 

[MadFloyd]

What is your connection method between the CappV3 Zuma and the NADAC ?

Am I correct in assuming that your are converting PCM to DSD 256 in HQ Player ?

I am running a 6th generation i7 PC with Roon Server and HQPlayer. It is connected via ethernet to my router. Out from the same router I convert ethernet into fiber to feed my NADAC which is in a different room.

Yes, I convert all PCM to DSD 256.

 

[MadFloyd]

The Zuma doesn't appear to have an Ethernet option, just USB and Firewire.
Suppose you could use a USB to Ethernet adapter to connect it to the NADAC.

Most computers have a wired network option (i.e. ethernet). Unlike USB DACs that rely on an output so the computer can connect directly to the DAC, in the case of NADAC, it just needs to be connected to your network (like another PC).

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The Zuma doesn't appear to have an Ethernet option, just USB and Firewire.
Suppose you could use a USB to Ethernet adapter to connect it to the NADAC.

I am quite surprised that the Zoma lacks an Ethernet option as that is usually a feature of the basic motherboard.